The Emerging Populist Agenda Washington Post – Katrina vanden Heuvel. According to vanden Heuvel, the most interesting aspect of US politics today is “the emergence of a populist reform agenda that is driving the debate inside and outside the Democratic Party.” She goes on to say, The money primary — in Clinton’s case, the process of raising more than $1 billion for her campaign — puts a limit on any candidate’s populist temptations. But, as Hillary is discovering in the debate over the president’s trade policies, every Democrat will have to deal with an activist base that is generating an increasingly fierce reform current. And that current is likely to help mold public opinion as we head into 2016. What’s more, it appears that Democratic populism possesses a surprising level of coherence. Their message is largely consistent and rooted in practical (albeit bold) policy ideas. Here’s a taster of what their agenda includes: Public Investment to Create Jobs Progressive Tax Reform Expand Shared Security Anti-(Current) Trade Policies The end is nigh: Pew Research Center released a report showing that Christians  now constitute only 70 percent of the American population  (down 8 percent from 2007). Also, atheists are practically taking over the nation, having doubled from 1.6 percent in 2007 to 3.1 percent this year. Younger Americans have a much better view of socialism, and worse view of capitalism, than their elders: One in three millennials view socialism in a positive way , compared to only 15 percent of those 65 and over. The graphs below illustrates just how much party loyalty shapes our opinions on economic theory. How can the US learn from the UK elections?  John Cassidy gives a thorough overview on what went wrong for the Labour Party and whether or not their defeat is ominous news for Democrats heading into 2016. His insights are very useful and offer a big-picture perspective on the course of Western democracy. Comments comments